UK: What British Muslims Really Think

The 615-page survey found that more than 100,000 British Muslims sympathize with suicide bombers and people who commit other terrorist acts. Moreover, only one in three British Muslims (34%) would contact the police if they believed that somebody close to them had become involved with jihadists.

"[W]e have to adopt a far more muscular approach to integration than ever, replacing the failed policy of multiculturalism... Britain's liberal Muslims are crying out for this challenge to be confronted. ... There is a life-and-death struggle for the soul of British Islam -- and this is not a battle that the rest of us can afford to sit out. We need to take sides... We have 'understood' too much, and challenged too little -- and in doing so are in danger of sacrificing a generation of young British people to values that are antithetical to the beliefs of most of us, including many Muslims." — Trevor Phillips, former head of Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The survey does show that 88% of British Muslims believe Britain is a good place for Muslims to live. According to Philips, this is because the tolerance they enjoy in Britain allows them to do whatever they want.

Many British Muslims do not share the values of their non-Muslim compatriots, and say they want to lead separate lives under Islamic Sharia law, according to the findings of a new survey.

The poll — which shows that a significant part of the British Muslim community is becoming a separate "nation within a nation" — has reignited the long-running debate about the failure of 30 years of British multiculturalism and the need for stronger measures to promote Muslim integration.

The survey was conducted by ICM Research for the Channel 4 documentary, "What British Muslims Really Think," which aired on April 13.

The 615-page survey found that more than 100,000 British Muslims sympathize with suicide bombers and people who commit other terrorist acts. Moreover, only one in three British Muslims (34%) would contact the police if they believed that somebody close to them had become involved with jihadists.

In addition, 23% of British Muslims said Islamic Sharia law should replace British law in areas with large Muslim populations.

On social issues, 52% of the Muslims surveyed said they believe homosexuality should be illegal, compared to 22% of non-Muslim Britons. Nearly half believe it is unacceptable for a gay or lesbian to teach their children. At the same time, almost a third (31%) of British Muslims think polygamy should be legalized. Among 18-to-24-year-olds, 35% think it is acceptable to have more than one wife.

(Image source: Channel 4 video screenshot)

Thirty-nine percent of Muslims surveyed believe women should always obey their husbands, compared to 5% for non-Muslims. One in three British Muslims refuse completely to condemn the stoning of women accused of adultery.

The poll also found that a fifth of British Muslims have not entered the home of a non-Muslim in the past year.

Of the British Muslims surveyed, 35% believe Jewish people have too much power in the UK, compared to 8% of non-Muslims.

In an essay for the Sunday Times, Trevor Phillips, the host of the documentary and a former head of Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission, warned of a growing "chasm" between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain that "isn't going to disappear any time soon."

Phillips wrote that the poll reveals "the unacknowledged creation of a nation within the nation, with its own geography, its own values and its own very separate future." He added: "I thought Europe's Muslims would gradually blend into the landscape. I should have known better."

Phillips was referring to his role in commissioning the 1997 report, "Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All." Also known as the Runnymede Report, the document popularized the term "Islamophobia" in Britain and had a singular role in silencing criticism of mass immigration from the Muslim world. Twenty years later, Phillips now concedes that he has had a change of heart.

"There is a life-and-death struggle for the soul of British Islam — and this is not a battle that the rest of us can afford to sit out. We need to take sides.

"Four per cent — the equivalent of more than 100,000 British Muslims — told the researchers that they had sympathy for people who take part in suicide bombing to fight injustice. Asked if they knew that someone was involved with supporting terrorism in Syria, just one in three would report it to the police.

"There is one truly terrifying finding. Muslims who have separatist views about how they want to live in Britain are far more likely to support terrorism than those who do not. And there are far too many of the former for us to feel that we can gradually defeat the threat.

"Liberal-minded Muslims have been saying for some time that our live-and-let-live attitudes have allowed a climate to grow in which extremist ideas have flourished within Britain's Muslim communities. Our politicians have tried to reassure us that only a tiny minority hold dangerous views.

"All the while, girls are shipped off to have their genitals mutilated, young women and men are being pressured into marriages they do not want, and teenagers are being seduced into donning suicide vests or becoming jihadi brides.

"We have 'understood' too much, and challenged too little — and in doing so are in danger of sacrificing a generation of young British people to values that are antithetical to the beliefs of most of us, including many Muslims.

"In my view, we have to adopt a far more muscular approach to integration than ever, replacing the failed policy of multiculturalism."

"Muslims want to be part of Britain — but many do not accept the values and behaviors that make Britain what it is; they believe that Islam offers a better future. And a small number feel that these sincerely held beliefs justify attempts to destroy our democracy.

"Britain's liberal Muslims are crying out for this challenge to be confronted. The complacency we've displayed so far is leaving them to fight alone, and putting our society in danger. We cannot continue to sit on the fence in the hope that the problem will go away."

The survey does show that 88% of British Muslims believe Britain is a good place for Muslims to live. According to Philips, this is because the tolerance they enjoy in the UK allows them to do whatever they want.

Some British Muslims have rejected the conclusions of the survey, which they say uses a flawed methodology because it was conducted in areas where Muslims make up more than 20% of the population, compared to 5.5% overall. They say the survey results are skewed because they are indicative of Muslims in these areas and not of British Muslims as a whole.

In an interview with CNN, however, ICM Director Martin Boon said that more than half of all British Muslims live in areas that are more than 20% Muslim and that the survey findings are sound. "In my view, this is the most rigorous survey of Muslims outside of the largest and most expensive surveys conducted by the UK government," Boon said.

The president of the British Polling Council, John Curtice, told CNN that ICM had followed standard methods of polling ethnic minorities in the UK.

Unlike many other surveys of Muslim opinion, which have usually been conducted by telephone or online, ICM used face-to-face, in-home research to question a representative sample of 1,081 Muslims across Britain.

The Muslim population of Britain surpassed 3.5 million in 2015 to become around 5.5% of the overall population of 64 million, according to figures extrapolated from a recent study on the growth of the Muslim population in Europe. In real terms, Britain has the third-largest Muslim population in the European Union, after France, then Germany.

In a statement, the Muslim Council of Britain (which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood) claimed the poll lacks "academic rigor" and warned it would "do nothing but harden attitudes on all sides." It continued:

"Many British Muslims will find it bemusing that commentators and the media have constantly tried and failed to paint a picture of British Muslims at odds with the rest of the country. The way this poll has been formulated and presented in this climate of fear against Muslims is most unfortunate."

In an opinion article for the Guardian, Miqdaad Versi, the assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, argued that Philips "lacks nuance" and has a "distorted interpretation of the UK's diverse Muslim communities." He wrote:

"Discussions and proposals to promote integration and cohesion are always welcome. But the starting point should not be that Muslims are the problem, not quite British enough, and must be civilized into a pre-existing notion of Britishness."

"Three cheers for Trevor Phillips. I think he is absolutely right. There's an element in the Muslim community which reject our values, while enjoying our tolerance.

"We are a tolerant nation because we are routed in the Christian faith, which is a tolerant religion. As our own religious observance declines, a vacuum is being created into which the hardline Islamist community is stepping.

"We have been a very complacent society."

Allison Pearson, a columnist for the Daily Telegraph, called for an immediate ban on all Sharia courts in Britain and called on the government to ensure that all citizens are subject to British law. She summed up the British predicament:

"This is serious. Unless we succeed, the live-and-let-live attitude which makes Britain such a great place could end up being its death warrant."

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-basedGatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him onFacebook and onTwitter. His first book,Global Fire, will be out in 2016.

Comment on this item

23 Reader Comments

David • Apr 21, 2016 at 07:04

I'm wondering whether the survey has adequately distinguished findings between different Islamic 'sects'.

We may be tarring all Muslims with the same brush, perhaps unfairly ignoring a notably consistently peaceful sect of Muslims who are currently head-quartered in the UK having been persecuted and practically banned (as 'non-Muslim') from Pakistan -- the Ahmadi/Ahmadiyya (founded in India in 1889).

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Jac • Apr 19, 2016 at 18:59

When Muslims are the minority they demand human rights, when they are in the majority there are no human rights.

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sharri palmer • Apr 18, 2016 at 13:38

If Islamic beliefs are clashing w/British ideology, then you never should have accepted any of them. Can you really believe "what British Muslims really think" after all they tell non-believers lies! 83% of the courts are sharia...Good Luck on taking your country back! It is ripe for civil war!

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johnston • Apr 18, 2016 at 12:30

Muslims first then maybe British second the small majority who support terrorism turns out to be a rather large minority I'm not surprised.They want things that only a Muslim country can provide yet won't leave Britain.We have made a serious mistake in being over-tolerant and we have a serious problem.I fear for my Children and Grandchildren.

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Mike • Apr 18, 2016 at 05:03

I disagree somewhat with Sir Gerald Howarth's comments about us being complacent of the threat that conservative Islam is threatening our British culture and values. It's not the general public who are complacent but our politicians, and our left wing liberal media who are complacent and go to great lengths to attack anyone who is prepared to voices heir concerns by accusing them of being racist or islamophobic! The policy of multiculturalism introduced by Tony Blair was a disaster. It should be given its correct title, " ghettoisation".

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The Irishman • Apr 17, 2016 at 15:29

Logic and the truth beginning to grow between the cracks in the concrete. Understanding that politicians, by definition, never tell the full truth, for reasons we all need to be aware of (their need to not offend any owner of a vote); this is a break-through.

Deep as the trouble is that the West is in and in order of imminence of catastrophic consequences, from my perspective:

- Germany/France/UK- Belgium/Holland- Canada/USA.

Canada recently elected a PM with a mixed ideology similar to Barry Soetoro (aka B. Obama) replete with overt pandering to the Muslim vote and all things multicultural and naturally 'Climate Change'. A staged video of him appearing knowledgeable of advanced computing has gone viral, with the objective of covering up his obvious intellectual and experiential real-world inadequacies. He is being marketed as 'The One', similar to the fraud south of the Canadian border. http://globalnews.ca/news/2641108/pm-justin-trudeau-gives-reporter-quick-lesson-on-quantum-computing-during-visit-to-waterloo/

Canada is just beginning the descent of the rabbit-hole that Europe embarked on 30+ years ago and Canadians seem generally oblivious. Due to Canada's unusual population distribution (80 -85% of the Canadian population lives in the four (4) conurbations of Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and more recently Calgary) and with Toronto having a 7.7% Muslim saturation, Canada is in a much more dangerous situation than the casual observer might perceive.

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Michael Dable The Irishman • Apr 18, 2016 at 10:02

The simpleness is "You want to live in Britain you will obey British law" if you don't like it then bugger off!

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Lia • Apr 17, 2016 at 15:01

The Phillips Report should reverberate, not only in the UK, but throughout Europe and the USA.

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DW • Apr 17, 2016 at 14:27

I have one word to say in response to this study: DUH!

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US Observer DW • Apr 17, 2016 at 19:29

It seems to me that by now the UK should have been, or perhaps already is, fed up with all this political encroachment. I say it's time for the UK to vote itself out of that failed EU structure and start cleaning up its own house -- the way it wants, when it wants. People globally are fed up with this Islamic agenda. By the way, what do native, traditional Brits want?

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lyn uzelac • Apr 17, 2016 at 13:51

British people have been very unfair to the Muslims by allowing them to abuse the tolerance characteristic of the country. To be fair, the British should spell out their expectations, school uniform (no head scarves), Western style of dress for both both males and females. Prison for polygamy -- certainly not extra benefits -- child grooming -- long terms of imprisonment and deportation, and the same for honour killings. Only by spelling out what is expected will those Muslims who want to integrate have a chance to do so.

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David Walker • Apr 17, 2016 at 13:00

"The survey does show that 88% of British Muslims believe Britain is a good place for Muslims to live. According to Philips, this is because the tolerance they enjoy in Britain allows them to do whatever they want."

Yes, because the police, social services and every other agency in the country is semi-officially prevented from intervening in any and all of their odious practices such as the gang rape of thousands of under-age white girls due to any action would damage "community cohesion" and may well lead to prosecution for Islamophobia.

Philips added:

"Muslims want to be part of Britain"

That is not strictly accurate.

What Muslims want is for Britain to be part of the Islamic Caliphate.

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Peter Shearer • Apr 17, 2016 at 11:32

Excellent article. What caught my eye the most was not the information that came out of the survey itself but rather the Muslim reaction to it.Specifically, the following: "Some British Muslims have rejected the conclusions of the survey, which they say uses a flawed methodology because it was conducted in areas where Muslims make up more than 20% of the population, compared to 5.5% overall. They say the survey results are skewed because they are indicative of Muslims in these areas and not of British Muslims as a whole."

That is interesting because, in effect, they are arguing that the percentage of the Muslim population in a particular area determines how Muslims think and behave. Dr. Peter Hammond wrote an article for Front Page Magazine back in 2008 on this very topic (http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=30675 ) and the claims he made in that article are borne out by the claim made by the Muslim objectors to the ICM Research survey. It will be interesting to see what happens when those 5.5% areas become 20% areas.

It is not a coincidence that Molenbeek, possibly the centre for Islamic terrorism in Europe, has a population that consists of an estimated 25% Muslims. It is no coincidence that Malmö, Sweden, whose population is at least 20% Muslim, has become a hell hole where in the first six months of 2015 there were more than 30 grenade attacks. (In 2014 there were 25 such attacks for the entire year)

Muslim apologists can obfuscate all they want; the ICM Research survey is probably accurate and the warnings that come out of the survey should be heeded by the Brits.

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B Campbell • Apr 17, 2016 at 10:55

I got a chuckle from some of the survey results. While the British sit around and sip their tea they have lost one of the greatest countries in the world. All of this caused by the left leaning socialists need to welcome everyone and treat all (criminals and terrorists) the same as law abiding citizens. Now British Muslims are demanding Sharia laws be implemented in Britain.Britain has ruined everything for the freedom of their children, especially female children.

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Josephine Bacon • Apr 17, 2016 at 10:25

I am sure that Channel Four were pretty horrified with the results of the survey, they took it on only to show how well-integrated Muslims are into British society. Certainly that is the image the media makes valiant efforts to portray, from the large numbers of Muslims who act as presenters, announcers, newsreaders and reporters on TV and radio to their portrayal is soap operas. The British soap opera "Coronation Street" has a Pakistani family who have opened a "community centre" for local people! First of all, community centres are never a private initiative and secondly the whole scenario is as likely as Muslims opening a pork butchers!

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Dee • Apr 17, 2016 at 09:54

I cannot agree that we should give three cheers for Trevor Phillips. While his report is welcome, and let me say here that had someone like, for instance Tommy Robinson, (who has been fighting the Islamisation of Britain for many years) said what Trevor has he would have been in court for it, it has been due in large part to Mr Phillips that anyone who tried to say anything previously has been labeled as ' Islamophobic'. So thanks to Mr. Phillips, the term Islamophobia has been enthusiastically embraced by those Muslims who wished to do exactly what they liked without any challenge or debate.

It may have been the fear of being labeled Islamophobic that caused the authorities to turn a blind eye to the underage girls being trafficked for sex, has caused female genital mutilation to go unprosecuted, has allowed a parallel law (Sharia) to go unchallenged. And many people think that Halal slaughter has no place in British slaughterhouses, and feel uncomfortable about the Burka having become commonplace on British streets. But no one can say so, without being called Islamophobic. Because of people like you, Mr.Phillips.

Every time anyone has the temerity to question why all this is happening, and why we must accept practices that are not acceptable to us, we are called racist, Islamophobic or far right. We are lectured on the need for tolerance and diversity by our Government, who seem astonished that Mr. Phillips has discovered things that we have known and tried to speak out about for years. Of course, there will be the usual cries of 'stigmatization' and 'distortion' and Islamophobia from those who are very happy, thank you, with the way things are. You will find, Mr. Phillips, as we have all found, that nothing will be done about any of it - nobody in a position to do anything wants to hear you.

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Fred • Apr 17, 2016 at 08:44

According to this article Muslims are happy in Britain as long as they become a parallel entity and the rest of Britain supports their wish financially & politically.

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David Ashton • Apr 17, 2016 at 07:33

The real problems are not that Muslims hold "right-wing" opinions about "gay marriage" or "left-wing" opinions about the West Bank, or even that they pray to "Allah", but their support for Sharia autonomy and loyalty to a foreign Ummah or Pakistan or Bangladesh instead to Britain, its legal system and its pre-existing culture.

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andrew H. • Apr 17, 2016 at 07:14

The free world needs to organize an effort to proselytize the youth of Islam in non-Muslim countries - point out to them how birth in a Muslim family means automatic victim-hood and a drowning in fascist rules that ruin their lives. Make them realize that suicide bombing is the most cynical type of exploitation. When do the Mullahs who induce them to become suicide bombers blow themselves up? Luring them to other existing religions would be hypocritical, unrealistic and unsuccessful. They need to be lured to atheism and freedom FROM religion.

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Nils Erik Sundin • Apr 17, 2016 at 07:09

"replacing the failed policy of multiculturalism"

Why are we talking about multiculturalism at all?

Islam stands and lives for a mono culture that doesn't accept anything else at its side.

I think we all know how the situation for minorities in the Islamic world is.

Over time they have in most countries been almost completely diminished.

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Jeff Page • Apr 17, 2016 at 06:51

Excellent article by Soeren Kern. This is the unfortunate face of Britain today, and something that will only get worse the longer it is ignored. All this has happened with the blessing of our 'political elite', you know who I mean, those who are supposed to be highly intellectual and well educated with an ability to foresee problems. Instead, we've been lumbered with politicians who talk about tolerance, community, integration, cohesion and all the other rubbish that is just not happening in our society! For far too long they have refused to open their eyes and see the obvious. They refuse to look far enough to see what's happening in towns and cities across our once Great Britain.

Our 'tolerant' society has been completely undermined by an 'intolerant' religion that simply will not recognise any other way of life but theirs. It's completely gone over the heads of the leaders of the country, they've ignored vital clues and in some cases sat back and watched it all happen in front of their eyes. They still have rosy visions of a land where everyone lives in harmony, inter-faith marriages between Muslim and Christian is an everyday occurrence, and we all live happily ever after in great big mixed communities!

Never going to happen! Of course another thing to consider is the element within Muslim communities who aspire to having sharia as the law of the land. The numbers involved cannot be under surveillance at all times (some never), and they could cause havoc right across the land with a synchronised attack. The politicians have let this situation arrive at this state by their weakness and their tolerance, both of which have been totally exploited by Muslims seeking to ignore our laws, our way of life, and wanting to live as they want. Under different circumstances, Muslims will never show the same tolerance, at least not on the same levels as we do.

There's recently been an occasion in London where a group of British people were demonstrating against no go zones in the city. They were completely surrounded by Muslims, who threatened them and went on to viciously attack some of them. The police stood and watched, they then moved in to move the demonstrators out of the area. Some of the police were attacked by the Muslims, one policewoman among them. However, the police later went on to arrest some of the innocent peaceful demonstrators, but didn't even try to arrest Muslims who had become extremely vicious when attacking both demonstrators and police. This sort of appeasement is what is causing more and more friction between communities, but both the government and police are far too terrified to upset the Muslims by making arrests! Pathetic, and playing right into their hands. With this attitude, our British values and our society is doomed!

I'm British, born and bred, and I love my country, but I've also heard our PM David Cameron say exactly the same. Quite frankly, I don't believe a word of it. He must see a different country to what I see, or maybe he just refuses to acknowledge the truth before his very eyes! With this outlook, we are well and truly stuffed, just as is Europe!

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jane • Apr 17, 2016 at 06:24

Those of us who have watched in dismay as multi-culti ideologues have refused to listen to any dissent, nor to any warnings about parallel societies, social fracturing and rising tensions, are now seeing our concerns echoed by none other than Trevor Phillips: good for him to have been so open about the survey's findings.

However, now we see the inevitable accusations and denunciations flying back and forth.

So the embedded liberal cognitive dissonance continues : the Guardian and various other liberati will find ways to undermine the survey's findings and the MCB will continue to find ways of laying the blame at our door.

So again I ask, as always, why o why has the liberal/left got into bed with the Islamic lobby? Do they know something which we lesser mortals don't?

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Michael Waugh • Apr 17, 2016 at 05:57

I watched the television programme concerning the thoughts of Muslims. Yet another media investigation into the problems concerning these people. Is it not time we had a survey into what the Christian world in the UK thinks of these people?

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